Big News! We've Raised Funding to Grow the Responsible Tech Pipeline & Unite a Diverse Range of Stakeholders!

Our organization is growing and this funding will help expand our team and deepen the impact of our programs.

Nov 22, 2021

👍We’re excited to announce our growth plans for 2022 and funding we have received to support this.

Since our founding in 2018, our organization has been intentionally designed to unite a broad range of stakeholders in order to co-create a better tech future. We set out to grow and support the nascent Responsible Tech pipeline; making it more diverse, multidisciplinary, and aligned with the public interest. Our theory of change has been that we can create a better tech future by changing and expanding the types of people involved in the process. In other words, the issues we face related to improving social media, considering AI ethics, reducing misinformation, and more require that we greatly diversify the people involved in the process.

That’s what we have set out to do, so it is with great pleasure that we announce that we have secured financial support from Ford Foundation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Susan Crown Exchange, and Pivotal Ventures, the investment and incubation company created by Melinda French Gates, to help grow the Responsible Tech pipeline and bring together a broad range of stakeholders. We would also like to recognize the design agency Artefact (Tarot Cards of Tech, Ethical Explorer, host of All Tech Is Human: Seattle in May 2019) that has brought our Responsible Tech Guide to life.

In 2022, we will be able to expand our mentorship program, Responsible Tech University Ambassadors, summits and in-person gatherings, diverse & collaborative working groups, community reports, Responsible Tech Job Board, large Slack group for the community, and our flagship resource, the Responsible Tech Guide. Our next happenings include hosting the Responsible Tech University Summit on Dec 1st, running a 150-person working group exploring ways to improve digital spaces and align them with ideal human experiences, and releasing a report in late January 2022 on the people, organizations, and ideas of the HX (Human Experience) concept.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE

All Tech Is Human founder & director David Ryan Polgar in Manhattan. The organization has grown from the actions of a small and growing team, dozens of advisors, volunteers, hundreds of previous speakers and interviewees with our reports, and thousands of attendees to our events & online community.

"In today’s world, power and control of technology rests in too few hands. We now have the opportunity and moral responsibility to put AI and data tools into the right hands to solve the global challenges we face together. All Tech Is Human is uniting stakeholders across civil society, education, government, and the private sector to co-create a future for all of us. We are proud to be supporters, collaborators, and allies in this work."- Vilas Dhar, President, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
"Aspiring responsible technologists, activists, researchers, artists, journalists and more are flocking to the field of public interest technology. As the field grows, it is essential to establish communities and networks that help to make relevant career pathways visible and viable across sectors. This ecosystem-building work has never been more crucial, and Ford Foundation is proud to support All Tech Is Human's efforts to convene, curate, and connect public interest technologists of all kinds." -Jenny Toomey, International Director of Technology and Society at the Ford Foundation
“It’s never been more important to connect the emerging coalition of individuals, organizations, and sectors that cares deeply about the way technology impacts the lived experiences of youth. As a connector, convener, and champion for a more positive and equitable Digital Age, All Tech Is Human plays a central role in this effort.” - Kevin Connors, Senior Director at Susan Crown Exchange
“Everyone at Artefact believes in design's power to create preferable futures, where communities strengthen how we live, work, and thrive. Partnering with All Tech Is Human on their Responsible Tech Guide, allowed us to share our vision of a technology community that is focused on positive impact. We're proud to partner with All Tech Is Human and continue to show the potential of design." - Matthew Jordan, Partner and Executive Creative Director at Artefact

👋Please join us online on Wed, December 1st for our Responsible Tech University Summit!

Our organization is committed to helping bring new voices into the nascent Responsible Tech movement focused on reducing the harms of technology and ensuring that technology is aligned with the public interest. On December 1st, we have built an exciting online gathering that will highlight career paths and education journeys for those working in the field, along with the surfacing both the struggles and opportunities for undergrad, grad, law students, and PhD students. Although it has “university” in its name, this is a gathering that would greatly benefit a wide variety of participants.

Everyone will leave with a better understanding of the ecosystem, actionable ways to get involved, and a dose of inspiration! There is a LOT of incredible work happening in Responsible Tech, and we aim to promote a culture of knowledge-sharing & collaboration for a more cohesive and impactful movement.

🙏We’re planning on launching our 2022 Responsible Tech Mentorship program soon, and looking for a few good mentors.

In our pilot mentorship program this year, we had a significant amount of interest from both mentors and people looking for mentorship. We have taken the learnings from what worked well and what areas should be improved and/or enhanced, and are currently mapping out the launch of our 2022 program. Right now we are looking to solicit interest from potential mentors. Is that you or someone you know? Let us know in the form below!

Mentor interest form

😎Some cool happenings in Responsible Tech

🥂 Over 80 people ended up stopping by our casual Responsible Tech Mixer we held in Manhattan last week. We are still riding high on the enthusiasm of the gathering, which brought forth a wide range of backgrounds who are all deeply committed to building a better tech future, together. We’ll be looking to do this again in January, along with additional online gatherings and potential in-person events in the near future…

💂Are you in the London area? Join Cennydd Bowles (a previous speaker in a pre-Covid summit held in NYC) and friends in London for a series of informal, Responsible Tech London coffee mornings discussing any and all aspects of responsible & ethical technology. All backgrounds welcome: engineers, designers, PMs, students, academics, and more. The next dates in London will be on December 14th and January 11th. Space is limited so RSVP in the links below.

Dec 14th gathering

Jan 11th gathering

🐨 Are you closer to Australia?! Attend the upcoming online fireside chat, Dignity Dilemmas, Design & Technology: Stories from the field, o-initiated by the Centre for Public Impact and Humanitech.

“We often think of dignity in the context of dying well or having a set of basic needs met. These are all important. At the same time, dignity is an essential, constant core of being human - for everyone, and at all times. This event gets practical about the impacts of technologies on our everyday dignity. Join us to explore what dignity really means in the context of designing, implementing and governing technologies, what dignity dilemmas look like and what to do about them.” -Lorenn Ruster

🥳We are excited to share our growth plans for 2022! A sincere thank you for all of the community support that has allowed this to become a reality.

Responsible Tech Guide | Improving Social Media | The Business Case for AI Ethics

RESPONSIBLE TECH JOB BOARD | DONATE | VOLUNTEER